Jersey’s financial industry grows

According to reports the financial industry within OFC Jersey is booming, however native residents of Jersey are contrastingly starting to feel a pinch.

Jersey has seen a huge rise in financial business since the start of 2011, and in the first three months of the year 40 new funds were launched, the largest rise since 2008. It’s believed that a large amount of money has flooded in from the Middle East and the Far East, leading to around £194.6 billion worth of funds in administration.

Geoff Cook from Jersey Finance said: “Our focus on inward investment and our clear commitment to new markets will carry on and we are confident Jersey will continue to reap the rewards of this strategy.”

However, the increased activity of Jersey as an OFC may be having an adverse affect on its native residents. No corporation tax is perhaps the prime benefit for foreign investors, but Jersey recently raised its Goods and Services Tax which covers most everyday items, much to the despair of its citizens.

Now it appears unrest is starting to develop as people feel a rise in this tax is the only way Jersey can keep its zero percent corporation tax A Jersey local politician said: “Feelings in Jersey amongst the working people and now the middle class are at a level I have never seen before. Ordinary workers are upset because of the constant rise in prices of all commodities, especially food which has always been higher than in the UK but has now reached a critical level and rising even further, and the middle class by the threat of a big hike in private school fee.”